V-drives

[WESTERNAERO]

V-drive pros, explain manufactures, placement, gearing, 10 vs 12 degree, rebuild procedures, wirl-aways, etc.

[Sharp shooter]

V-drive pros, explain manufactures, placement, gearing, 10 vs 12 degree, rebuild procedures, wirl-aways, etc.

I'm not an expert but I'll try and give some kind of answer.

There were many manufacturers of the v-drive gear box (is that what you're talking about?). V-Drive "boat" manufacturers number over 100. Because there's so many different types, styles and configurations of v-drive boats it would take a dictionary sized book to list all possible combinations and proper set ups.

The most widely used gear box's came from Casale. They made/make many different configurations. Placement and gearing is boat specific. Rebuilding varies from one box to the next. Whirl-a-ways? What about 'em?

If you can narrow down the year, manufacturer and type of boat, we can probably get close in suggesting shaft angle and rigging placement. Gear selection will vary depending on hp, prop and usage needs.

[WESTERNAERO]

Trying to get the "in the know" guys to educate the curious, the newbies, the just getting started, etc. Lot of "secret knowledge" out there that the "pros" don't seem to want to share to help the newbies and instead just want to make snide remarks and try to intimidate them.

[WESTERNAERO]

Whirl-away, prop-release, whatever you choose to call it. Tell us what it is Jerry, why they're used, who makes them, we're can they be bought.

[westair]

Kind of interested on the history of the whirl-away also .... I've had vdrive boats back in the 80's and never heard anything ever mentioned about them. Did anyone have them back then? drag boats? must be pretty ugly coming to a sudden stop at 100+ mph

[Sharp shooter]

Kind of interested on the history of the whirl-away also .... I've had vdrive boats back in the 80's and never heard anything ever mentioned about them. Did anyone have them back then? drag boats? must be pretty ugly coming to a sudden stop at 100+ mph

I'm sure 7 can give us a very detailed history of prop releases. I know in the early days there was the Algon prop release which installs between the v-drive and the prop shaft. It was good but left a lot of room for improvement which probably explains why Casale got in the game with the Whirl-a-way. Many guys flipped their boats before these were a mainstay. Engine failure or a locked drivetrain turns your prop into a corkscrew shaped skeg without a releasing mechanism that allows your prop to freewheel..

[wannabe]

There is nothing secret about a v-drive. They come in two general angles, the 12 degree and the 10 degree. There are a few 8 degrees and one or two sevens that I know of. But forget about those.
The prop comes in at the angle determined by the strut. The v-drive takes the engine torsional power and gears it to the prop shaft. So nothing super trick. The 10 degree is shallower, and so with solid mounts, it gets the engine lower in the boat. Lots of race boats prefer 10 degrees for this. 12 degrees are common in family boats and ski type boats. The engine sits higher in the hull (typically). You can use solid shafts from the engine or u-joints. With u-joints you can alter the alignment of the engine slightly. Solid mounts have to be pretty true or they will bind and wear stupid. The better way to run the power out of the engine is off of they flywheel. This is called "drag style". Engines like it way better, as the crank can have a dedicated harmonic balancer, and the power leaves the engine off of the side of the crank that was made to have the power bolted up. However, if you plan on turning left, running the snout of the engine to drive the boat naturally causes the rotational force of the torque of the engine to help the hull load left, and turn left. It is harder on cranks, but this is the way 95% of the circle flats are set up. Rotating either way does not change v-drives or any of the other hardware on the boat. Just the prop. (and direction of the whirl-away, of course)
Don't run a circle prop on a drag boat. Or vice versa. It can get ugly. Like running in reverse.
Oh, and the more power you have, the better you need to tie off and solid mount your v-drive. 100% of the forward thrust of the boat comes through that bottom shaft. So make sure you realize this when rigging your boat.

[2manymustangs]

Whirl-away, prop-release, whatever you choose to call it. Tell us what it is Jerry, why they're used, who makes them, we're can they be bought.

Not sure if whirl-away is a trademarked name or not... Here are the pieces (shown in the pic below) and, JERRY, keep me honest but at 4:20 in the video below when you shut off your HONCO in the video, isn't the sound we hear your PROP RELEASE in action???





^^^ THis is installed on the OUTPUT of the Vdrive and allows the ratchet/freewheel of the prop because the prop becomes a rudder basically WHEN an engine locks up/stops OR you get a lock up in your drive line for whatever reason, usually resulting in a QUICK out of control turn of the boat and the people getting pitched out...

I for the life of me cant remember who makes the parts in the pic that I posted, maybe BEAVERFAB??? Or you can purchase from Casalle... The spring keeps the two dogs engaged in the driven direction and allows the freewheeling of the prop if something locks the driveline...